COMM 204 HW2 15 points

Q1. Customers enter the camera department of a store at the average of a rate of six per hour. The
department is staffed by one employee, who takes an average of six minutes to serve each arrival.
Assume this is a simple Poisson arrival, and exponentially distributed service time situation.
(a) As a casual observer, how many people would you expect to see in the camera department
(excluding the clerk)? How long would a customer expect to spend in the camera department (total
time)? (5 points)

(b) If the service time becomes fixed at six minutes per customer, how many people would you
expect to see in the camera department (excluding the clerk)? How long would a customer expect
to spend in the camera department (total time)? (5 points)

Answer:
(a)

(b) M/D/1 queue

E[s]= 6 mins
$% &
Pk formula: 𝐼" = &'$ ( =0.45
I = Iq + I s =0.45+0.6 =1.06
*
T=+ =1.06/6 mins

Q2. Which of the following(s) about PK formula is (are) true? (5 points)

I. It shows that higher utilization implying lower queue length
II. We can relate it to OM triangle
III.It shows that without variability the queue length will be zero
A. I B. II C. I and II D. II and III E. I, II and III

Answer: D. no need to explain.